Davis Secures World Cup Bronze

There were four senior international events featuring British fencers this weekend as the countdown to Rio 2016 continues.

Men’s Foil – St. Petersburg World Cup

Five British fencers lined up for this individual event in Russia at the weekend.  James-Andrew Davis and Richard Kruse qualified directly to the round of 64 by virtue of their World ranking.  Marcus Mepstead joined them by winning all six of his first round matches and thus receiving a bye through the preliminary elimination fights.  Both Laurence Halsted and Ben Peggs took four victories from their six first round bouts and received byes through the first preliminary.  Halsted went on to make the 64 by beating Perrier (BRA) 15-5 but Peggs was eliminated 15-8 by Wu (CHN).

In the 64 Davis thrashed Bakriov(RUS) 15-5, Halsted beat Arslanov (RUS) 15-12 and Mepstead squeezed past Sanita (GER) 15-14.  Unfortunately, Kruse had to withdraw with a back injury whilst leading against Gomez (MEX).  Davis beat Halsted 15-7 in the next round as Rigin (RUS) knocked out Mepstead 15-9.  Davis then beat Abouelkassem (EGY) 15-11 and Simoncelli (ITA) 15-9 before losing his semi-final 15-11 to Rigin.  Read the full report on his medal winning performance here.

Dmitry Zherebchenko (RUS) claimed his maiden World Cup win beating Rigin 15-6.  Davis was joined in the bronze medal position by Andrea Baldini (ITA).

In the team event Great Britain beat Egypt 45-28 in the round of 16 before losing 45-37 to Italy.  They went on to lose 45-42 to China and 45-33 to Japan to finish eighth. Italy beat the USA 45-38 to take the gold medal as France beat Russia 45-43 to claim the bronze.

GB individual placings: Davis 3, Mepstead 19, Halsted 22, Kruse 36 & Peggs 67.

Full individual results.

Full team results.

Men’s Sabre – Madrid World Cup

All nine British entries progressed through the first round in Spain – Harry Boteler (V2D3), Will Deary (V4D1), James Honeybone (V3D3), Nicholas Howes (V1D4), Curtis Miller (V3D3), James Potter (V2D4), Stephen Rocks (V2D4), Kirk Slankard (V2D3) and Jonathan Webb (V3D3).  In the first of two preliminary knockout fights, Deary beat Escobar (VEN) 15-11, Honeybone defeated Miller 15-13, Slankard took out Pytel (POL) 15-14 and Webb beat Hernandez Caballero (ESP) 15-13 but Szatmari (HUN) eliminated Boteler 15-6, Godlewski (POL) knocked out Howes 15-12, Senegas (FRA) beat Potter 15-11 and Bonsanto (ITA) ended Rocks day by the same score.  In the next round Vu (VIE) saw off Slankard 15-7 but Deary, Honeybone and Webb progressed to the 64 beating Barloy (FRA) 15-14, Singer (HUN) 15-12 and Escudero (ESP) 15-10, respectively.

None of the remaining British fencers made it past the 64 as Lambert (FRA) defeated Deary 15-13, Kim (KOR) beat Honeybone 15-12 and Dolniceanu (ROU) knocked out Webb 15-13.

Vincent Anstett (FRA) picked up his first World Cup win beating Sandro Bazadze (GEO) 15-9 in the gold medal match.  Luca Curatoli (ITA) and Junghwan Kim (KOR) collected the bronze medals.

In the team event, Great Britain beat Turkey 45-44 in the round of 32 before losing 45-33 to USA.  In the placings matches they lost 45-32 to ESP, beat POL 45-43 before losing 45-32 to CHN to finish fourteenth.  Germany beat USA 45-35 to win the event as Hungary beat Russia 45-44 to claim the bronze medal.

GB placings: Deary 48, Honeybone 61, Webb 62, Slankard 94, Miller 113, Boteler 123, Rocks 132, Potter 137 & Howes 147.

Full individual results.

Full team results.

Men’s Epee – Split Satellite

Alexander Edwards was Great Britain’s sole fencer in this event in Croatia.  He won two of his six first round matches to progress to the round of 32 where he lost 15-6 to Matteo Tagliariol (ITA).  The Italian went on to win the event, beating Francisco Limardo (VEN) 15-5 in the final.  The bronze medals went to Gustavo Coqueco (COL) and Jesus Lugones Ruggeri (ARG).

GB placing: Edwards 28.

Full individual results.

Women’s Epee – Split Satellite

In the women’s event, Sadie Greetham (V2D3), Jessica Gundry (V3D2), Stella Lancey (V2D3) and Rebecca Mayle (V2D3) all made it through the first round.  None of them progressed past the round of 32 as Kameniscakova (SVK) beat Greetham 15-9, Jukic (CRO) defeated Gundry 15-9, Jeza (SLO) knocked out Lancey 15-11 and Krsnakova (SVK) overcame Mayle 15-4.

Leonora Mackinnon (CAN) won the event beating Dagmar Ciparova (SVK) 15-11 in the final as Maria Martinez (VEN) and Toncica Topic (CRO) picked up the bronze medals.

GB placings: Gundry 18, Greetham 20, Mayle 21 & Lancey 23.

Full individual results.